OUGD404 Design Principles Type Journal Heavy Sable Label

The most noticeable thing with this font is the way the capitals have  a straight orientation but the lower case are italic. this creates the impression of something special and important in a similar manner to medieval illuminated manuscripts. The font is clearly derived from sable origins because of the smooth way the line weight changes, rather than instantly changing at a curve like anything calligraphic would.

OUGD404 Design Principles Type Journal Retro Signage 2

Although the platform for this font (signage), allows for a much more highly ornamented aesthetic a simple yet striking sans serif has been opted for. In fact it bears strong similarities to the modern angular font of the Grommet Burger Kitchen font. the simple heavy strokes suggest that this is of wood type origins yet the addition of a drop shadow instantly creates a combination of the old and the new which fits with the chic identity of a modern day barbershop. 

OUGD404 Design Principles Type Journal Retro Signage

I  went in and asked how this window sign was created and apparently all the black and gold on the lower letters is on the exterior of the glass and the 'old town' letter filling is on the interior, giving it a sense of depth. The heavily ornamented font has ver strong connotations of and similarities with old fair ground fonts. In fact I think the halfway markers on each letter allow a sign painter to match up the letters, or at least possibly started out that was but have evolved into ornamentation. So In conclusion I think that this font is too heavily ornamented for it to be worth while producing it out of lead or wood, so would only suit signage, therefore hand rendered origins are the only explanation.

OUGD404 Design Principles Type Journal Heavy Wood Type

This takes the aesthetic of wood block type to the absolute extreme. Each aspect of each letter is formed to of a rectangle wherever possible and curves are a last resort. It seems like this font either hasn't been thought through or it is looking to be uneven. This is because there seems to be no overhang on the letters like G, so the heavy flat bottomed letters on either side appear a lot larger. Also the complete disregard for apertures rather compromises the legibility of the font because you find the eye reading the lines cutting through the letters rather than the letters themselves. The sleigh drop shadow or highlight confuses things slightly because this seems like something most likely achieve via screen print, suggesting that although the font may have been created with wood type in mind it is either digital or created like a collage from sections of paper.

OUGD404 Design Principles Type Journal Angular Ampersand

This angular ampersand caught my eye because of the way the shape is much less abstract than some ampersands in roman and script font. In an effort to create simplicity the glyph has been taken back to its roots. Originally and was another letter of the alphabet in its own right known as 'et per se and', translated as and per se and. This is clearly the derivation of the name ampersand but the shape its self is an abstract version of the letters et. The figure eight shaped ampersands that have become common place are in fact very abstract. This ampersand although still recognisable as an ampersand to the modern eye is a clear combination of the aperture of an e and the stem and cross bar of a t. This fits with the simplistic functionality of the rest of the font and allows it to maintain a strong presence on the page next to the highly legible letterforms, aided by the decisive way it touches both the baseline and cap hight with solid heavy strokes

OUGD406 Studio Brief 02 First Discussions

 This brief asked us to create a viral campaign stimulated by the the words read more. When we first started chatting we wanted to define where to go with this by analysing the different types of reading such as reading expressions or lips as well as the traditional reading and the different formats that can take. We also discussed the fact that we felt the most successful viral campaigns had a humorous side which made people want to share them and that possibly the basic age target audience for a humorous campaign is most likely to be 18-30 because it is the widest possible with the sense of humour still being mostly similar. Any further and a large shift in what people find funny tends to occur. 

Once we had discovered the most promising themes we divided up the areas of research but also identified areas such as general viral campaigns good and bad that we all needed to do. We ask agreed that going away and asking people what they most commonly read, in what format they read it and why. This was so that we could start to build an understanding not only of what people read but what the most profitable platforms might be for a viral campaign.

We also considered the connection between reading and writing, looking at the possibility of creating a story on twitter and illustrating and publishing it in some way. But we decided that each of us needed to go away and do some research and generate our own ideas and come back to it fresh. So we made a list of all the areas we wanted to start researching so that we could come up with a message when we next met. The major thing that we all needed to do was to ask people why, how and what people read.

We met again a couple of days latter and found that we weren't getting very far with the facial expressions idea or lip reading. The problem was that we needed a message to communicate to give the ideas grounding and purpose. then the idea of dyslexia came up after we started talking about the way reading might improve writing and it seemed like a good direction to go in. Settling on this has created a starting point for the specific campaign ideas to grow from and we each said we would go away do our own research and ideas generation.

Perhaps not an idea that we take to the end but something that has stimulated a lot of further ideas is using twitter to retweet spelling and grammar errors in an effort to cite the fact that it is something that happens to everyone. this idea has helped the message crystallise although we may not take it further. What we want to aim to do is reduce the stigma that surrounds dyslexia in an effort to remove the negative connotations of stupidity that are simply incorrect. 

OUGD404 Design Principles Brief 02 Layouts Grid Workshop

Previously we had been asked to bring three different layouts from different publications. We then overlaid them with tracing paper and attempted to pick out the grid. The grid below makes use of columns rather than  many squares or rectangles (modular grid). What surprised me was the way that even when images are breaking the grid (on an angle) they are doing so by exactly the same amount. Although at fist glance this layout may not seem very similar from page to page the alignment of aspects from one page to the next appears when the gris is drawn in, clearly linking the layouts visually. 

Sometimes the layout on one page did bot continue to the next in any way. this seems to be because there is an advert and its purpose is to grab attention. If it did follow the same grid as on the verso tun it would sink into the background much more. The grid here is slightly more complex than just a column grid. It is decided in the centre and then brought back together again by the thin column on the right of the page, making site the reader gets to the bottom. 

This layout is way busier than any of the others. it seems to be a column grid but with many more horizontal divisions than previously found and in places that don't seem to correspond to one another. This could have been done to achieve the 'collage' aesthetic this is such a sign post of gossip magazines

Sometimes aspects align but mostly not. The rigidity created by these sparse horizontal alignments is then distorted by the odd off balance photo.

Subsequent to the workshop I did the same exercise with a full magazine to see if there was a grid that was applied throughout to achieve the same look.

There was a three column grid with some divisions and cross overs usually initiated by photos. Some horizontal alignment could be found but not a lot which suggests the dominant part of the grid is vertically aligned.

 I took this grid and placed it over a few other pages. Although horizontal lines varied the three column aspect remained the same.

Even on pages where your first glance suggests the page is modular, once I placed the grid over it I found that in fact it also followed the three column plane, it was just the stronger horizontals that were added.

In conclusion the major thing that I have found is that a grid although not always instantly noticed by the uninitiated eye can create a connection aesthetically between numerous designs adding to the collective identity and branding that is so important in good design.